JEAN-DANIEL BERCLAZ
JEAN-DANIEL BERCLAZ
the Franco-Swiss artist, who now lives in Marseille, in his work examines the societal and urban perceptions of landscape. It is this theme which also pervades his fictitious Musée du Point de Vue. On behalf of this ‘open air museum’ he explores cities and landscapes, taking pictures of them from a certain vantage, respectively, focal point. At two very diverse locations in the city or its surroundings he stages vernissages as occasions for people to communicate: invitations are sent out, food and drink are being served on the day. Berclaz photographs and films the events. Finally, in the context of an exhibition in a real museum/gallery photos and videos are used to present the two chosen ‘landscapes’ as well as the two vernissages. Here the videos are projected onto two massive screens facing each other. So that the visitors to the exhibition have to move between them. The result is a medley of real and filmed persons, voices, and an almost tangible force field of communication.
The Musée du Point de Vue exhibits landscape: the mountains, the sea, the city. An open air museum, as it were, of landscape pictures and landscape paintings. Jean-Daniel Berclaz is carrying on one of the ideas pervading 19th century painting. His work consists in observing the landscape until we get the impression the landscape is observing us. Everybody is welcome to the vernissages, the buffet is prepared by the artist himself. Each visitor will be a protagonist in the future work, a photo and video installation to be seen at the Kunstraum Innsbruck from October 6. Everyone, in a word, at the same time will be actor and spectator, character and author, observed and voyeur, and during the exhibition have the opportunity of seeing her/his own life-size image projected onto the wall.
The beginnings of the Musée du Point de Vue are very closely linked to Marseille. The city so to speak having been a godmother to the project. Other scenes so far have been at Fribourg (Switzerland), the Ecole d’Art in Besançon (France), District de la Hague (France), Geneva (Switzerland). In Innsbruck the artist chose for his vernissage events the summit of the Hafelekar (2334 m above sea level) and the Innsteg (a pedestrian bridge spanning the river Inn).
No, it was no ordinary day
the light of the day kept shifting
smells rose
the night was waiting
spices and colours lay on the table you spoke, in a difficult language and I tried to dream of something else maybe of something I had seen before through a window of something edible, like a landscape, for example.
Jean-Daniel Berclaz
